Zomato - Unduly Charged for service deficiency by Zomato

COMPLAINT SUMMARY:

- Zomato grossly failed on their service delivery assurance, despite charging an extra fee for PRIORITY delivery.
- Zomato harassed the customer by refusing to accept their responsibility or provide a fair compensation.
- Zomato refused to refund the pre-paid order payment even though the ordered food was ultimately NOT delivered.

APPEAL:
- Zomato should be held accountable for their service assurances and for especially charging a "Priority delivery fee"
- Zomato should immediately refund the pre-paid amount of Rs. ****.** against this undelivered order
- Zomato should pay a compensation for mental harassment to the customer


DETAILED CHAIN OF EVENTS for **-May-****:

*:** PM:
- An order was placed on Zomato within New Delhi, including an optional (Premium fee payment) for "Priority Delivery" service offered by Zomato.
- Total Rs. ****.**. Pre-paid by my Citibank credit card ending with ****.
- Expected (Long) Delivery time was *:**PM.
- Since this was a paid PRIORITY delivery and the restaurant is not far away, I enquired why the delivery time is so high - which was left without any satisfactory answer.

*:** PM: Chat with Zomato customer service (ZCS): Slight delay of * minutes, expected delivery time is *:** PM.

*:** PM (* minutes beyond the Expected delivery time): App display: Delayed by about ** min (Order will be picked up shortly).

*:** PM: App display: Delayed by about ** min (Order will be picked up shortly).

*:** PM: Ongoing chat with ZCS: Matter escalated by Zia to Mehvish: Mehvish claims vehicle breakdown of rider, expected to pick order in *-* minutes. Refuses to take responsibility of the delay or provide any compensation despite charging an extra priority delivery (Premium) fee.

*:** PM: App display: Delayed by about ** min (Order will be picked up shortly).

*:** PM: Ongoing chat with ZCS: On my insistence seeking a fair compensation for the service deficiency, Zomato decides to provide a meagre Rs. **/- cashback as compensation. Order still not yet picked.

*:** PM: App display: Delayed by about ** min (Order will be picked up shortly).

*:** PM: Ongoing chat with ZCS: "...Order delayed by **-minutes and will be delivered by *:**PM.."

*:** PM:
- After having waited over ** minutes and harassment for not owning up to their responsibility, I cancelled the order.
- My message " I'm done with the unacceptable delay even after placing a paid priority order and even more appalling level of customer service. Please cancel my order. Thanks!"
- Despite clear service deficiency of Zomato and undue harassment to me after making all payment in advance against Zomato's assurance for PRIORITY Delivery and YET not received the order, Zomato had the audacity to refund my payment of Rs. ****.** and also force me into a guilt trip by stating that my "cancellation leads to "Food wastage".

*:** PM: On phone with ZCS: Apparently, claiming the order delivery is ready. I refused to accept the delivery due to unacceptable delay, and knowing that the food would have been cooked an hour ago and delayed in delivering by Zomato.

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